How I Saved $1,900 by Ditching Kajabi and Building My Own Learning Platform on Replit

Ever felt like you’re paying too much for tools you don’t fully use? That was me with Kajabi. I initially started using Kajabi back in 2019 for my Traefik Training course and the price was reasonable and the product fit my needs.

I was earning decent money from my course and basically deployed the course and let it run on autopilot. But like many of us, I signed up for this SaaS subscription and just let it run. Sure, it was generating revenue but over the years Kajabi's price kept increasing by huge percentages and my profit margins kept shrinking until it went negative.

Kajabi is great—until you realize you’re shelling out $1900+ a year for features you barely touch. I wanted more control, fewer costs, and the freedom to build exactly what I needed. So, I took the plunge.

I built my own learning platform using Replit—and saved $1,900 in the process.

Here’s exactly how I did it, what I learned, and why it was worth every second.

💸 Why I Ditched Kajabi (and Saved $1,900 Doing It)

Kajabi promises an all-in-one solution—website, course hosting, email marketing. Sounds perfect, right? Kajabi does do it all to be honest.

But here’s the thing:

• I wasn’t using half the features.
• Customizing the user experience was nearly impossible or you need extrenal designers to fix templates.
• The $1900/year price tag felt like overkill for what I needed.

I didn’t want to keep paying for a bloated platform. I wanted to own my course, control every aspect of it, and stop handing over nearly two grand a year.

I'm not angry or a disgruntled Kajabi customer but it no longer fits my use case.

🚀 Why Replit Was the Game-Changer

Enter Replit—a cloud-based development environment where you can code, build, and deploy apps straight from your browser.

I spent a lot of time trying all sorts of AI tools before I discovered Replit. What sold me is I could build an app from a single AI Agent Prompt, interact with the built code, and then deploy right to production all with the same app. Sold!

Why Replit? Simple:

• Zero hosting headaches: Deploy in seconds, build an app and push it right to production.
• Total flexibility: I built the exact features my audience needed—nothing more, nothing less.
• Massive savings: No monthly subscriptions draining my wallet.
• Browser-based coding: Work from anywhere, no complex setup.

Replit gave me the freedom Kajabi couldn’t. Plus, building my own platform felt like unlocking a superpower. Also, returning to my mantra of building just felt right.

Sure, Replit isn't free but the $15 a month subscription sure beats the $1900 a year or $159 a month I was paying previously.

🛠️ How I Built My Learning Platform (Step by Step)

Step 1: Planning the Escape from Kajabi

First, I mapped out everything:

• Exported all course videos, PDFs, and overviews.
• I uploaded all the videos to YouTube (Free)
• Designed a better user journey tailored to my audience.

What's really amazing about Replit is I built the entire user interface with AI. Basically, I would take a screenshot of what I wanted fixed and prompt it back to the agent. Whether it was aligning buttons, adding logos, or fixing errors I would say 90% of the work was handled via the AI Agent.

I did however, still make some manual adjustments in the code like fixing text, rewriting copy, and adding Google Analytics and Tag Manager.

Did, I mention you own all the code you create using Replit so you can connect Replit to Github to save all the code? No, well you can!

Step 2: Building on Replit

The best part? Replit’s instant deploy meant I could see changes live without extra hosting costs.

Here’s what I built:

• 🔒 User authentication for secure logins. (rolled back for now until I bullet proof this)
• 📈 Progress tracking so students could pick up right where they left off. (Rolled back for now)
• 🎥 Video streaming optimized for fast, buffer-free playback.
• 💳 Stripe payments for smooth, secure transactions. (Actually, I decided to make the course 100% free)

Believe it or not Replit also built the entire backend integration to Postgres to handle session handeling and storage of course completion certificates.

Step 3: Testing & Tweaking

Before going live, I stress-tested everything:

• ⚡ Test all the things I ran through the entire course, checked all the buttons, the new certificate builder, and menus to sanity check functionality. (I'm sure I missed something)
• 🧪 User feedback loops to fine-tune the experience.
• ⚙️ New Features I'm adding new features and going to add the other courses to the site as well. Still in development but sure is a fun project.

⚡ The Challenges (and How I Crushed Them)

Not gonna lie—it wasn’t all smooth sailing:

• Session Handling: Building my own login system meant extra focus storing data, creating certificates, and tracking course progress
• YouTube Ok, this was a pain in the ass. I created a YouTube playlist with the course. However, the AI Agent kept hallucinating and pulling other videos instead of my course. I had to export the Playlist and import into the Agent to get it to understand what video goes where and in what order.
• Course Completion Certificate previously, when a student would finish the course I would receive an email to create and send a certificate. now, this is 100% automated as well.
• SLA's: Unlike Kajabi, I now had to keep the platform running 24/7.

But each challenge pushed me to learn more, build better, and own the process.

💰 The $1,900 Question: Was It Worth It?

100% yes.

By building my own platform, I:

• 💵 Saved $1,900 a year in subscription fees.
• 🎨 Customized everything for my audience—no more cookie-cutter experiences.
• 🚀 From Idea to Production in no time about 3 hours I converted my entire course from idea to live with Replit.
• 🏗️ Gained full ownership—I control the code, the content, and the customer journey!!

The freedom to innovate without lock-in? Priceless.

🎯 Key Takeaways: How You Can Do It Too

1. Flexibility beats convenience: Build what you need, not what a platform forces you into.
2. Replit is the ultimate dev playground: no complicated setups—just prompt the AI Agent, tweak, and go-live.
3. Own your platform, own your future: No more vendor lock-in, no more surprise massive price hikes. At least I hope but I own the code now.

🏆 Final Thoughts: Should You Build Your Own Platform?

If you’re tech-savvy and want full control of your online course, do it. The savings alone make it worth exploring.

For me, the math was simple:

• Kajabi: $1,900/year, limited customization.
• Replit: $15 a month, endless customization, and total ownership.

I chose freedom—and my wallet thanked me.

💬 Thinking about ditching Kajabi? Got questions about building your own platform on Replit? Drop a comment or reach out—happy to share more.

FAQ Section: Saving Money by Building Your Own Learning Platform on Replit

How much money can you save by building your own learning platform?
Building your own learning platform can save you thousands in subscription fees. In this case, switching from Kajabi to a custom-built platform on Replit saved $1,900 annually. Over time, these savings can significantly reduce overhead costs while providing more control and customization.

Why choose Replit for building a learning platform?
Replit offers a cloud-based, collaborative development environment that supports multiple programming languages. It’s ideal for building a learning platform because it’s cost-effective, requires no complex local setup, and allows for quick deployment and iteration.

Is it difficult to replace Kajabi with a custom platform?
Replacing Kajabi with a custom-built solution can be challenging without technical knowledge. However, platforms like Replit simplify the process by providing coding tools, hosting options, and integrations, making it accessible for those with some programming experience.

What are the key benefits of building your own learning platform?
Key benefits include complete ownership, lower costs, flexibility in design and features, and no dependency on third-party pricing changes. You also have the freedom to scale and adapt your platform as your audience grows.

What skills do you need to build a learning platform on Replit?
Basic knowledge of web development, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, is essential.

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